BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SINCE my arrival on contract to work in the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, [and that has been over six years] there have been record-breaking cases of homicides on an annual basis, and most of them still remain unsolved.
Even though a significant number of officers in the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF) have received advanced training in various aspects of crime detection and prevention at world renowned training institutions in England and America, there seems to be a void in their ability to solve certain crimes.
Is it because the RSCNPF lacks the modern-day sophisticated equipment that would enable its specialists to successfully solve the escalating homicide and break-in rates? Or is it that the officers lack the ability to effectively employ strategies with the limited resources available to them?
Joseph Liburd, Assistant Commissioner of Police with responsibility for Crime, recently told media personnel that the low detection rate of crime is attributed to the “lack of evidence”, which is not forthcoming as the authorities would hope it to be.
He declared that “people who would see and know things are fearful to give evidence in court because they are fearful that someone would retaliate against them, and this is something that we have been encouraging the public about”.
The ACP further declared that the Police Force has access to and uses ballistic and DNA testing in its investigation of crimes, but he however noted that DNA testing is costly and forces the organisation to “prioritise as to what to send overseas”.
Liburd pointed out that sending things for DNA testing is only one aspect of the process; the Force needs other bits of evidence to go with that. Using blood samples as an example, he explained that some of it may be taken from a crime scene but “we need the connection, and without the connection you still don’t have a case even though you have the DNA testing and the DNA results. But we really need people to come onboard and give the evidence. If people come onboard and give evidence, the detection rate would be much higher”.
He also noted that there is a high cost for DNA testing and the Force would appreciate if more funds are made available. However, it is known that the Federation relies heavily upon the services of Barbados-based forensic pathologist Dr. Stephen Jones. But one of the burning questions being asked on Dr. Jones’ findings of the numerous cases he has so far examined is…“How much evidence was gained to prosecute and not to only state the cause of death?”
Additionally, on what terms of condition is Dr. Jones employed, at what cost to tax payers is his every trip to the Federation, and how much longer will he be employed?
It is said in some quarters that after one’s training in medical school and a period of internship, it would take a qualified doctor four to five years to complete training in Forensic Pathology.
Most recently, the Federation has been speaking to the empowerment of the nation’s youth and, from this perspective, SKNVibes therefore asks…”What if we stop the importation of forensic pathologists and have one or more of our young medical practitioners trained in this field of specialty?”
